When you own a restaurant, coffee shop or catering company, food safety is the No. 1 priority. With the provincial and municipal governments cracking down on businesses that don’t adopt proper food safety protocol, you should incorporate the best food safety practices possible. Otherwise, you could receive a conditional pass, and this could hurt your reputation.
Here are the top seven things afood safety consultantwill tell every restaurant:
1. Food Safety is Not a Competitive Matter
Just because your coffee competitor next door is getting away with whatever is he’s doing, it doesn’t mean that you should be as laid back as he is. Simply put: food safety is not a competitive matter. You should be honing in on food safety as much as possible; forget what others are or are not doing.
2. Incentivize Voluntary Testing Among Staff
On a regular basis, it would be a good idea to encourage your staff to perform testing in the kitchen, in the bathroom or in the dining room. Whether it’s the food or the condition of the open refrigerator, your staff members should act like city officials are around all the time and ensure everything is OK.
3. Sanitary Measures Must be in Place
Gloves, hats, regular cleaning (see below) and other aspects should already be in place. By having sanitary measures added to your overall daily operations, you can always receive a pass from the city, and give your reputation a boost among your staff.
4. Concentrate on One Area at a Time
Prior to opening or after closing time, you should allocate your resources to concentrate on one particular area of the kitchen. Behind the stove or the food storage, focusing on one particular part of the kitchen will prevent the buildup of bad produce or the elimination of mice.
5. Establish a Cleaning Schedule
If you don’t have one already then you definitely should: a cleaning schedule for the restaurant. The schedule should also include the names, times and what was done.
6. Tap a Professional Cleaning Crew
Once a month, it would be a great investment to hire a professional cleaning crew that can undergo arduous and in-depth cleaning of the entire premise. It should complement your daily cleaning routine as well.
7. Hire an Impeccable Food Safety Consultant
Finally, when you’re unsure what to do, it would be best to hire a food safety consultant. If you have received warnings from the city, even after you have undergone several massive changes, a food safety consultant can tell you what you need to know and what needs to be done.
